Our emergency response team mobilizes immediately, reaching out to free clinics and health centers in our network of over 1,000 safety net partner facilities to deliver the right aid to survivors in urgent need. But we don’t stop there; we follow up with field visits and ongoing recovery assistance for communities in crisis. From the 9/11 WTC attacks, Hurricanes Katrina and Sandy, to the Joplin tornado, and in 2017, Hurricanes Maria, Irma & Harvey and on to the 2018 California Wildfires, Hurricane Florence and Hurricane Michael, Americares has been on the scene, delivering crucial help, reducing human suffering, and helping communities recover. Different regions of the country are vulnerable to different threats. And some states are particularly prone to disasters. (NY Times story)
November 30 marked the official end of a historic 2017 Atlantic Hurricane season which produced 17 named storms, including four hurricanes which made landfall (Harvey, Irma, Maria and Nate) affecting roughly 25.8 million people. For the first time in 12 years, a major hurricane made landfall affecting the continental US, and the first time ever two Category 4 storms hit the continental U.S. in the same season. Hurricane Harvey set a new record for the most rainfall from a U.S. tropical cyclone, with more than 50 inches of rain in some areas. Two weeks later, Hurricane Irma became the strongest Atlantic Ocean hurricane on record and the public response resulted in one of the largest sheltering missions in U.S. history. Hurricane Maria was the third major hurricane to his the US this season, and was the first Category 4 hurricane to make landfall on the main island of Puerto Rico in 85 years.
“Americares has been a blessing to us. Kate has worked tirelessly to assist us in getting vaccines and everything we need to provide medical assistance to victims, responders, and volunteers. Kudos to Kate and the Americares staff! Also—providers on-call don’t have anything on Americares because they are always available when needed!”
DEBBIE HALLER, COMMUNITY HEALTH CLINIC OF OKLAHOMA
The first 48 hours of an emergency are the most critical. We strategically pre-position emergency relief supplies at partner clinics in disaster-prone areas across the U.S. so we are ready to respond at a moment’s notice with shipments of emergency aid to fill urgent healthcare gaps, including:
How Hurricane Katrina inspired a career.
The response to a huge disaster helped Americares to build a strong network of health partners throughout the country.
We provide ongoing recovery assistance for disaster survivors, when needed, in three areas:
The strength of our partners at the community level allows us to respond quickly with targeted aid where it is most needed.